Wire-cleaning method and apparatus



' W..P. ZABEL-AND L. E. REAKES. WIRE CLEANING METHOD AND APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR I2, I9I9- 1,403,727. Patented Jan. 17,1922.

29 2G I I Fig. 2

INVENTDHS: WILLIAM E4171. ZABE'L Lam suazv E GENE E'EAK'ES YEIEJH AT'TQHNE Y been treated b the TENT orr ca. 1

PAUL iA'BEL AND LYLBUBN EUGENE REAKES, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO,

ASSIGNORS T0 GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

WIRE-CLEANING METHOD AND APPARATUS.-

Specification of Iietters Patent. Patented J an; 17 1922,

Application fil ed March 12, 1919. Serial No. 282,124.

To all whom it may can earn.

Be it known that we, \VILLLAM PAUL ZABEL and LYLBURN EUGENE REAKns, citi- Zens of the United States, residing at Cleveland, county of Ouyahoga, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire-Cleaning Methods and Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to methods of cleaning wire and, more particularly, wire used for filaments and supports in incandescent lamps A carbonaceous lubricant is ordinarily apiplied in drawingsuch wire and the wire as nally produced carries a coating of impurities consisting of this carbonaceous material and more or less oxides formed on account of the heating which the Wire ordinarily receives during the drawing process.

'Heretofore it has been customary to pur-- ify Such wire in two ways. The strai ht w1re which is used for vacuum lamps as process disclosed in Pacz Patent 0. 1,280,825 of- October 8, 1918, This consists in heating the wire Y while passing itsuccessively through oxidizthoroughly with water, and finally to heat ing and reducing atmospheres. The other method has been applied in the case of filament wire. which has been coiled and has ordinarily been used in gas-filled lamps. Such wire must have more elasticity than is present" in the wire treated by the Pacz method andit has been customary to boil this wire in a solution of potash to "loosen the carbonaceous coating, then-to wash it the wire in a reducing atmos here to remove any metallic oxide whic may have formed. This method has the objection that it requires a number of distinct steps and,

moreover, entails the use of a disagreeable chemical. Our invention is intended to takethe place of this second method and also, to a certain extent, of the first method.

According to our" invention, the wire is first chemically treated to loosen up the.

graphitic or other carbonaceous coating and to dissolve any of the metal oxides which may be present. The wire is then scrubbed. to remove the loosened coatm The result is wire having a clean surface ut otherwise retaining' its original characteristics such as -.elasticity. This wire is particularly suitable 56 for use in coil filaments. Moreover, it is 'metallic. oxides may be used, for example,

refer to use i caustic soda or potash, but they are not as efiicient as borax. The solution is heated to a temperature just below its boiling point, about 98 degrees centigrade, and water is added from time to. timev to take care of losses due to evaporation.

The mechanical removal of the loosened graphite is preferably-accomplished by passing the chemically treated w1re through sand and water and finally between wipers which may be of yielding material such as felt. .On the smaller sizes of wire, it is not necessary to pass the wire through the sand and water; as the felt thoroughly removes the loosened graphite.

111 the accompanyin drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation partialg in section of apparatus for carrying out the process of our invention; Fig. 2 1s a plan view of the same with the wiper cover removed; Fig. 3 is a' sectional side elevation-of the solution container and associated-parts; Fig. 4 is a sectional rear elevation of the same; and Fig. 5-"is a sectional elevation of a sand scrubbing apparatus.

the wire 1 wound on a spool 2 is placed on ,a shaft 3' having a hearing at the end'of leg 4 of a U-shaped standard 4 which allows thespool to be submerged in or removed from the borax soluti0n5 in the con- I tainer, 6. lhe wire isunnoiled from the spool 2 a's-hereinafter described and is prevented from 'uncoiling too rapidly by a. spring drag 7 actin on-a'whe'el 8 fastened to the opposite en of the shaft 3. The wire 1 passes. between the preliminary wipers 9, preferably faced with felt, attached to the le 4', and up over the pulley 10. rotatably he d-onthe standard leg 4.. The pulley: 10 is preferably partially submerged in the solution 5 so as to keep it clean. The solution 5 is heated by a burner 11 under the container 6 which rests on=a tripod 12. All pulleys and parts which come into contact with the borax solution are preferably made 'of bras or other metal which will not be corroded. I

While'tlie wire is being treated in the hot solution5, th loose end is held in a spring clip 13 attac ed to an arm 14 on the standard leg 4'. In the case of the larger sizes of Wire, it is .prefered to next pass it through a .scrubbing apparatus, such as illus trated in Fig. 5, which is mounted adjacent to the container 6 and receives the wire which is passed through the said container.

This comprises a series of rolls 14' over which the wire travels and a moist sand bath- 15 through which the wire passes and is scrubbed. Thisumay be called an intermediate treatment and is desirable in the case "of the larger'sizes of wire because of the greater amounts of deposit thereon. With the smaller sizes of IWII'Q this intermediate passed over pads 16 preferably of felt extending treatment is unnecessary and the wire is directly to an lncl ned trough 15 and across the bottom of'the trough and preferably spaced apart. *In order to kee the wire pressed down into the pads an also to act on the upper surface of--the wire, a

felt pad 17 mounted-on a board lSto facilitate handling is preferably used as a. cover 1 f y for the pads 16. Warm wateris supplied as through the pipe 19 to the'upper endof ceives the: water and through the pipe 21 the inclined trough 1.5 and passes over and soaks through the; pads 16.. This assists in x the cleanlng action and at'ithe saine time for the at r sizes of wire; The scrubbing action ot e pads supplemented by adding sand either on the -pads, or in the spaces therebetween. In place of sand, very fine tungsten wire scrap, mineral wool or other abrasive may be utilized and it is feasible tomake one or more of the pads of such materials. L

The wire 1 is drawn through the trough 15 and wound on collecting spool 22 and through the distributing guide 23 bymeans such as the motor 243whicb 7d11'ives by means I t e pulleys 28,-

of thebelts 25, 26 and 2 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33, the last named being mounted on the shaft carrying the spool 22.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is

1. The method of treating tungsten wire of lamp filament proportionswhichhas been subjected to (a carbonaceous lubricant during1 drawing, which consists in treating it wit loosen the impurities therefrom and subse quently passing it through an abrasive.

2. The method of treating tungsten Wire of lamp filament proportions which has been ing drawing, which consists in passing it a solvent for tungsten oxides to 7 through a solution containingasolvent for tungsten oxides and then passing it through an abrasive. I

3. An apparatus for cleamn wire comprising a solutlon container, wire carry ng means supported therein, a scrubbing means comprising one or more pads, means for supplying liquid to said pads and means for causm'gthe wire to travel successively through said container and said pads.

4. n apparatus for scrubbing wlre comprising a trough having therein one or more pads, liquid supplying means for saidpads",

- and meansfor causing the wire to pass through said pads.

- In witness whereof, We have hereunto setv our hands this'tenth day of March, 1919.

AULZ B L. raumatic-ENE sea-nus,

70 subjected'to a carbonaceous lubricant dur- 

